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My thoughts on Biology…

So, I’m studying for my life sciences exam in just under two weeks… Biology always amazes me.

I have found this year so far, I’ve loved my university modules. Life Sciences (biology), Child Development and Mental Health. Child Development in itself is ridiculous. I love finding out all those little bits that God is up to when He makes a foetus and it, in turn, grows into a baby. The first week of that module we were told to watch a documentary, War In The Womb, and that was beautiful! How does the unborn child’s body know how to do all this? How does the mother’s body realise that there’s a baby growing and not want to kill off the “parasite”.
Life itself, it really is a miracle… But really that’s all another post in itself…

But, biology, it’s always amazed me. It just reiterates my belief in God. Not just in God, but that God created us for His glory. How else could you explain the body having all these magical and wonderful things going on?

I’m learning thermoregulation at the moment. Pretty much how your body is able to keep itself at a normal temperature… Because obviously, a person is unable to survive long periods of time at one extreme or the other – i.e. having too high or too low of a body temperature. So your body somehow manages to keep you, most of the time, at your 36.5ish degrees celsius.

But how does your body know how to do that? There had to be some mastermind behind us who came up with such a genius idea to such a small problem.

Like, for me personally, I don’t normally think twice about my body’s ability to keep my temperature normal unless something bad happens, i.e. me currently having a fever. I’ve got a fever and it’s only now that I’m thinking, “okay body, sort yourself out”. Except for now, every other day of my life, I don’t really care for my temperature. I mean, sure I know when I’m cold or hot and I’ll add or remove layers of clothing as necessary… But it’s such a small part of my body, a tiny part in my life. And yet, that giant, magnificent God up there in the Heavens. The same God who created the beautiful stars and planets. The same God who created the mountains and the rainforests. That same God who did all that, He created a mechanism in my tiny little body, so that my body regulates its temperature and I don’t die of fever or hypothermia within a day of being born. He made that mechanism in my body that 99% of the time I even forget is there!

Like, honestly, how ridiculous is that!? That my God cares so much for me that He’d do that. He’d make that tiny weeny, forgettable thing in me. It’s really those little things. The mechanisms that regulate my temperature. The hormones in my body that stop me from losing too much blood when I get a paper cut. The insulin that makes sure my glucose levels are normal. Those little things that the majority of us take for granted, that no one really takes time to think about during our busy hectic lives. Those little things that God made in our body, in Adam & Eve during those first 7 days in the world’s beginning…

In my head, (although God is waaaaay more organised than me), I assume that those 7 days were pretty crazy-busy for God. He created the earth, the waters and land, the animals, and humans. Everything. And yet, in those seven days He not only perfected the animals, fish to swim in the seas, birds to fly in the sky and animals to roam the land… But He did a pretty sweet job of creating us humans, Adam & Eve… And He didn’t do what I would have done. He didn’t just do most the job of creating Adam, create the main exciting bits, the head, arms, legs, torso, heart, brain, lungs. Those very vital bits we need. I would have probably done those and stopped, needed a break, finished off the following day after a nap. (I’m glad I’m not God!). But, God perfected the man. He created that mechanism in Adam’s body to keep his temperature normal. He created nerves and hormones. Blood vessels. Hairs on Adam’s arms. Even things that Adam probably wouldn’t need for a while – the hormone cortisol, the main stress hormone. I don’t actually know what Eden was like, but I doubt there was much for Adam to be stressed about in Eden. I mean, God had their back! That same hormone also helps to increase the circulation of nutrients in the body which is super helpful when fasting… And why, if you’re living in Eden, surrounded by every fruit and veg that you would ever want, why would you be fasting in a land of plentiful?

In those first 7 days, God sorted us out with everything we might ever need in our tiny bodies. It’s almost like, He had our back even before we thought we might ever need it. Before I had my fever, I didn’t think to myself “oh, hey thermoregulation, how you doing, I need you today!”… When I have breakfast, or am chilling by the tv, I don’t think “ohh, I definitely need some cortisol later tomorrow”. But God knew I need those. He knows I need that thermoregulation otherwise I’ll get a fever. He knows that this cortisol will help when I’m fasting, or am stressed by exams. He knows it all.

I know when I pray, I usually don’t tell him about my thermoregulation. I don’t ask God to increase the production of white blood cells. Nor do I remind God that my hormone levels need to be sorted out. I don’t think anyone does, do they, unless something is specifically wrong with these parts of their body… But, you know, God has already given these tiny mechanisms to us. Even before we wanted them… It’s not necessarily what we want. But it’s what we need. He’s given us what we need to survive.